Race and the Assemblies of God Church: The Journey from Azusa St ...

The fourth chapter will analyze the formation of the Assemblies of God church in 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The issues, that a year previous led to published calls for an organizational meeting of Pentecostal believers, indicated a willingness to form some sort of official ecclesiastical body with very limited power over local churches. The actions of Eudorus N. Bell and particularly J. Roswell Flower, two of the prominent founders and leaders of the Assemblies of God, give evidence that racial segregation was the dominant factor in the church’s creation. The early life and ministry of Charles Harrison Mason, his experience at the Azusa Street Revival, and the establishment of the Church of God in Christ as an integrated organization that ordained Bell and other white ministers who formed the Assemblies of God, will be examined. Mason made a significant appearance in Hot Springs where he signaled his disappointment over the racial division that was unfolding. Understanding his relationship with these white ministers is vital.

Documentary evidence of efforts by denominational leaders to ignore, exclude, or in some way restrict African Americans from receiving the benefits of full membership and ministerial recognition in the Assemblies of God, is presented in Chapters 5 and 6. The memos, letters, minutes, and other sources from the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center confirm the existence of an intentional effort by executives, such as J. Roswell Flower and Ralph Riggs, to direct African Americans away from the Assemblies of God by referring them to the Church of God in Christ. In addition, the material attests to repeated attempts to institutionalize segregation in the Assemblies of God by creating a completely separate “colored” fellowship within the church. Pertinent articles in the Pentecostal Evangel that chronicled changing attitudes toward African Americans in the Assemblies of God will be analyzed as well. In addition, the Assemblies of God response to racism in the mid-twentieth century will be compared to that of selected American church groups. Particular emphasis will be placed on the white factions within the Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal traditions during the civil rights era. The actions of these groups will be contrasted with the role of the African American church during this period.